The QC, Vol. 89, No. 14 • January 16, 2003

              The Voice Of Whittier College Since 1914
January 16» 2003
QUAKER CAMPUS
http://web.whittier.edu/qc
Society numbers up for women, down for men
■ PLEDGING
by Amy Stice
QC Interim Editor-in-Chief
The number of women pledging societies has increased by more
than 20 percent this year, while the
number of men pledging has almost
equivocally dropped. Society members give varied reasons for the shift,
including better overall perceptions
of society life, especially among
first-year students, more active female societies, and fears of pledging male societies.
According to the Inter-Society
Council (I.S.C), the Metaphonian
Society has the largest number of
pledges this year, with 13. The Orthogonian Society has two pledges,
as do the Franklins—the lowest
numbers of any society this year.
The men's societies average three
pledges per society; the female societies average more than a whopping ten. According to Dean of Students Dave Leonard, who oversees
the College's societies, a total of 52
women have accepted bids this year,
whereas only 13 men have.
The overall number of people
pledging has remained consistent
over the last four years.
I.S.C. co-chair and Thalian Society pledge mistress Cathy Burt
attributes the large number of female pledges to the heavy recruiting efforts of the female societies
after eight women de-pledged from
the Athenian Society last January.
"This year is a critical year, especially for the As," she said. "Last
year they had a lot of de-pledges, so
they took the initiative and recruited a lot. It had to happen, and it did.
It's a good thing for any society's
future."
Senior Armilla Staley, the Athenian Society president, said that the
society held the same number of
recruiting events as it. does every
other year, but actually scaled back
its efforts to persuade women to
join. Staley said that last year the
Athenians recruited 12 women because they were panicked about the
impending graduation ofthe majority of the group (seven of the current 11 active members will graduate this year), but that this year they
put less pressure on prospective
members to pledge.
"This year we let the girls really
get to know us, let them know that
pledging is hard, and then let them
make their own decision," Athenian Sabrina Wizman said. "We
attracted a very good number of
girls who like what we have to offer
as a society—we're very intelligent
girls, very beautiful girls, very campus-oriented girls, very quality girls.
And now the society is going to be
left in very good hands."
Burt pointed out the advantages
of having such large numbers in a
society. "No one wants to join a
society that's not growing and lively," she said. "With more people, a
society is able to do more things,
put on bigger events, have the manpower to work these events and
have more money because of dues."
Burt also pointed to a growing
The Metaphonian Society
alumni network as an incentive to
join a society. "As much as a society is a service organization, it's
also social," she said. "It gives you
hookups and connections, and
sometimes even jobs through alumni—that's the attraction people are
ALLISON CORONA / QC PHOTOGRAPHER
pledges gather information.
looking for."
But if the numbers are any indication, these qualities are more important to female societies than to
their male equivalents. In the last
four years, women have accepted
See PLEDGING, page 6
Whittier says goodbye to Robert Clift
Former bookstore manager dies after a lifetime of service and dedication to others
■ MEMORIAL
by Christina Gutierrez
QC News Editor
For Whittier College alumnus
and former long-time employee J.
Robert Clift, there was only one
way to do things—the right way.
At Cliffs memorial service on
Friday, Jan. 10, his son Bob Jr.
commented, "my generation has
been taught to 'not sweat the small
stuff,' but my father was someone
who always did. He had a willingness to fight fiercely for those
principles in which [he] truly believed, no matter how small."
Clift passed away on Sunday,
Jan. 5 as a result of heart problems
caused by a stroke in 1997. Clift's
most notable contribution to the
College after his graduation in
1940 was his 35-year tenure as the
manager ofthe College Bookstore.
Suzie Harvey, a Whittier alumna and former employee of the
Bookstore under Clift, described
him as "one of those people who
was my boss, but also much much,
more. I was a single mom back in
Oh, Essay!
We got letters about O.S.A.
What, you don't believe
us? Then go have a look,
Mr. Smarty Pants.
Opinions, Page 3
the seventies when it wasn't common for women to work, and when
my kids were sick, he would let
them play or take naps in his office while he went to go work in
the stockroom. People just didn't
do that back then."
To Harvey, as well as to all of
the students who knew Clift, he and
his wife Olive—who also worked
in the Bookstore when Cliffs secretary retired in 1955—were like
surrogate parents. According to Harvey, when interviewing students for
positions "they would never ask
'can you type.' It was always personal questions like 'what do you
want to be in 10 years?' It was a
team, and they cared about each and
every employee."
Cliff s daughter, Whittier College alumna Carolyn Laskey, met
her future husband while working
at the Bookstore during the summer while she was in high school.
In addition to his work at the
bookstore, Clift also served as Assistant Director of Athletics, which
stemmed from his extensive athletic background while he attended Whittier College. He was a
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE CLIFT FAMILY
J. Robert Clift, 1935-2003.
sprinter who lettered twice in track
and field. At the memorial service, Whittier College alumnus
and former president Tom Woodward, who was on the mile relay
team with Clift, recalled watching
Clift sprint toward a first place
title in a 200 meter race. With
tears in his eyes, Woodward recalled running along the football
field yelling, '"Come on, Bob.
Come on, Bob, come on!' He was
one of those people who was always pushing for other people,
even when they didn't know why."
As the Assistant Athletics Director, CJift served as the sponsor
of the ski club, and was the golf
coach. Woodward described
Clift's life in terms of his golf
game, saying, "His life was full of
birdies and pars, and just a few
bogies."
According to Clift's son-in-
law, Bob Laskey, when Clift suffered his first heart problem in
1959 the Whittier football team
played Pomona at the Homecoming game and defeated them 49 to
6. The team dedicated the game
ball to Clift, and it still resides on
a shelf in his family's kitchen.
"That ball shows the great affection that everybody felt toward
him because he felt the same toward them," Laskey said.
According to Vice President
for Advancement Bedford Mcintosh, Clift was a sponsor of the
Orthogonian society, a member
of the board of the Friends of the
Shannon Center, and contributed
to the John Greenleaf Whittier So
ciety and to Broadoaks School,
which honored he and Olive with
the "Bob and Olive Clift Classroom" in the Grandparents'
House. His contributions to the
College led to a new computer lab,
the Clift Lab, which is located in
Hoover Hall.
Because of his and Olive's
dedication and service to the Whittier campus, Clift was inducted
into the Whittier College Athletic
Hall of Fame in 1997, and both he
and Olive received an Alumni Association Award, and were honored by the Boy Scouts of America with the Good Scouts Award
in 1999.
College President Kate Will
spoke at Cliffs memorial service
about how honored she feels to be a
See CLIFT, page 5.
'News You Can Use
The Quaker Campus prints
every two weeks during Jan Term.
The next issue will be published
on Thursday, Jan. 30.
ISSUE 14 • VOLUME 89
Double Whammy!
Two weeks equals two treats for
readers as we feature our two
flagship columns Cribs and
Travel in one issue! Snap!
Campus Life, Pages 9&10
This bites
A bunch of the usual crap that
you've come to depend on and
a boatload of sound bites. No
pity!
A&E, Pages 11&12
Be Ballin?
The men's basketball team is on a
tear. We cover the scores and
more! Also: Find out more about
the new swim coach.
Sports, Page 16